Friday, July 20, 2012

I remember quite vividly that I had gone to Barnes & Nobles to look at the Art Magazines and had grabbed a handful of interiors Magazines in the hopes of seeing some great art; and there it was, a photo of a lovely interior with a couch and behind that hung a huge Cleve Gray painting that just astounded me. Balance in a painting is very important to me and here this artist just ignored any sense of symmetry and the results were glorious. I've told the story before about trying, as a youngster, to understand what made a painting, any painting, a good work of art. And the best I could figure is that somehow, at some point, a painting comes to find it's own internal balance. I realize how little sense that makes, but for me it totally explains the difference between bad and great art. Be that as it may, it was just amazing to see how Cleve composed his paintings. If his works fascinate you too, then you also will be rewarded by any research you do into his life and oeuvre.